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By David Shreve posted 01-22-2024
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Dr. Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe

By Collin Rudkin posted 07-23-2020
Dr. Oboh-Ikuenobe is the epitome of resilience. Despite being a Nigerian woman, whose expertise was often not respected early in her career, her unbending resolve led her to achieve great success in both the United Kingdom and in America – it is no surprise she studies rocks as they match her unbelievable toughness. However, she still truly cares about her students and facilitates the best possible learning opportunities for future geoscientists. Her extensive record as a leader in professional and civic committees at her home institution of Missouri S&T, the local Rolla community, and all the way to her home country of Nigeria, has proven that she is ...

Dr. Eliot Atekwana - Geochemistry

By Collin Rudkin posted 07-22-2020
Dr. Eliot Atekwana began his scientific career researching landfill leachate retention for his undergraduate senior thesis. The project kindled an interest in hydrogeology and geochemistry that ultimately led him to complete a Ph.D. thesis investigating the influence of a Kalamazoo, Michigan landfill on regional groundwater. As an undergraduate, Eliot met fellow geologist Estella Nkwate (now Atekwana). The two married, started a family, navigated the challenging academic “two-body-problem”, and began a highly productive scholarly partnership that has spanned multiple disciplines, continents, and decades. Drs. E.A. Atekwana (yes, they share the same initials) ...

Dr. Estella Atekwana – Biogeophysics

By Collin Rudkin posted 07-22-2020
Dr. Estella Atekwana grew up in Cameroon, where as a little girl a teacher once told her that geology was not for girls. She took that as a challenge. Today, Estella is an internationally- recognized research powerhouse and a pioneer of geobiology with well over a hundred publications in geology, geophysics, and environmental microbiology journals; thousands of citations; some $10M in research grants; and a CV that would quickly run your printer out of ink. She has given numerous keynote lectures at national and international conferences and departmental seminars across the globe. Estella is best known for being one of the founders of the field of biogeophysics, ...

Geoinformatics Sessions at the 2016 GSA Annual Meeting

By Leslie Hsu posted 06-27-2016
At this year's GSA Annual Meeting, there will be several Geoinformatics-related sessions. You can view all of these sessions at http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2016/sessions/topical.asp?CatID=Geoinformatics . I'd like to make a special call for abstracts to session T47: Big Data in the Geosciences. We welcome presentations that showcase new capabilities and opportunities in big data that will allow tackling complex, multidisciplinary problems that were previously not realistic as well as transforming the “small data” science that most of us carry out daily. Contact me at lhsu@usgs.gov if you have any questions, or if you already have a talk ...

A student take on congressonal visits

By Kasey White posted 05-11-2016
Interested in participating in congressional visits but not sure what to expect? Read about the experience of Brent Silvis, who was the student representative from GSA’s North-Central Section in 2015. Congressional Visit Day 2015 It was an honor to be invited to this year’s Geosciences Congressional Visit Day (GEO CVD) as a representative of the North-Central Section of the Geological Society of America. This was a rewarding and interesting experience. During my time in Washington DC I learned about some of the threats to scientific research and education funding due to proposed budget cuts, I reacquainted myself with some of the workings of ...

Mingling Geoscience with Public Policy on Capitol Hill

By Elizabeth Goldbaum posted 11-16-2015
This article originally appeared on GSA's blog, Speaking of Geoscience . Washington, D.C. – Geoscientists from across the nation visited Capitol Hill to share their research and voice their concern over fizzling federal support for earth sciences with policy makers from states as diverse as Wyoming, Florida, Texas and California. GSA, along with many fellow geoscience societies , organized the 8 th Annual Geoscience Congressional Visits Day , or “GeoCVD,” which took place from September 29 to 30. The Capitol Building photobombs GeoCVD participants on the Hill. Credit: Kasey White. Established and emerging geoscientists from academia, industry, ...

Marcia McNutt Talks About Lessons Learned From Deepwater Horizon at GSA's Meeting in Baltimore

By Elizabeth Goldbaum posted 11-12-2015
Science Magazine ’s Editor-in-Chief, and former director of the United States Geological Survey, spoke about lessons learned from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill during the Michel T. Halbouty and Geology and Society Division Distinguished Lecture at the Geological Society of America’s Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Marcia McNutt, who has been with Science just over two years, said that “science in crisis is special” because it teaches people to pull together as a team. Although it’s wise to draw on past disaster experiences when facing new ones, “every oil spill is different,” she cautioned, and each time things “fail in their own ways,” McNutt said. ...

Federally Funding Geoscience

By Elizabeth Goldbaum posted 09-21-2015
Washington, D.C. – Geoscientists working in academia and industry shared their research with policy makers in an effort to highlight the societal and economic benefits of federal investment in geoscience research. Representative Mike Honda, a Democrat from Northern California who is the ranking member of the subcommittee that funds many science agencies, hosted the briefing on Capitol Hill on September 17, and American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America and American Geosciences Institute, sponsored the reception, which included various geoscience societies and agencies. NASA, NSF, USGS and NOAA hosted booths illustrating the diversity of federal ...

Senate Energy Committee Passes Bipartisan Energy Bill

By Karen Paczkowski posted 08-11-2015
On July 30th the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 by a bipartisan vote of 18-4. The bill, sponsored by Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Cantwell (D-WA), is the first large-scale update to U.S. energy policy in nearly a decade. As the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senators Murkowski and Cantwell set a mood of compromise during the markup, insisting the bill remain bipartisan. They warned fellow Committee Members that they would oppose amendments from both sides of the aisle that threatened this goal, even if they agreed with those amendments on ideological ...

House and Senate Pass Successors to No Child Left Behind

By Karen Paczkowski posted 07-22-2015
On July 16th the Senate passed the “Every Child Achieves Act” (S. 1177) which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), by a bipartisan vote of 81-17. The ESEA sets the vision for elementary and secondary education in the country . The bill’s most recent reauthorization, entitled “No Child Left Behind,” increased the federal government’s role in education by requiring schools to test, report, and answer for student progress. Congress has been unable to pass a new reauthorization since No Child Left Behind expired in 2007, leaving its requirements in place. Senator Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Murray (D-WA), the Chair and Ranking Members ...

Hearing Examines NSF Rotator Program

By Karen Paczkowski posted 07-09-2015
On June 25th, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Oversight and Subcommittee on Research and Technology held a joint hearing to examine the NSF rotating staff program. The hearing, entitled “ Is NSF Properly Managing Its Rotating Staff? ”, was held to examine NSF’s use of rotating staff, and explore the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of the program. The hearing focused on the higher costs of rotators in comparison to permanent federal employees, and sought to determine if the added costs are worth the benefits brought in by the program. In addition, in light of a recent reported conflict of interest case, the hearing also examined the ...

DOE Science Funding Bill Passes House and is Approved by Senate Appropriations Committee

By Karen Paczkowski posted 07-06-2015
On May 1st the House passed the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2028) , which funds the Department of Energy (DOE) for fiscal year 2016, along an almost party-line vote of 240-177. The bill appropriates $5.1 billion to the DOE Office of Science, an increase of $32.3 million or 0.6% above FY 2015 levels and a decrease of $239.8 million or 4.5% below the Administration request. The bill and accompanying report contain deep cuts to the DOE Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). It appropriates BER with $538 million, a $54 million or 9.1% ...

House and Senate Appropriations Committees Pass Bill to Fund USGS

By Karen Paczkowski posted 07-01-2015
On June 16 th the House Appropriations Committees passed the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act , which funds the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for fiscal year 2016. Two days later the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its version of the bill . Although both bills fall short of the $1.2 billion the administration requested, the USGS is spared from funding cuts, with the House appropriating the USGS with $1.05 billion and the Senate appropriating the USGS with $1.06 billion, flat funding and an increase of $13.5 million or 1.3% from FY 2015 levels respectively. The House bill (H.R. 2822) and accompanying ...

Critical Minerals Bill Examined by Senate Energy Committee

By Karen Paczkowski posted 05-15-2015
On May 12 th The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing to examine the American Mineral Security Act (S. 883) , a bill designed “to prevent future mineral supply shocks and boost the competitiveness of our energy, defense, electronics, medical, and manufacturing industries.” Senator Murkowski (R-AK), the Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, continued, “Minerals are critical to every aspect of our daily lives. We rely on them for everything we do and everything we make – from our smallest computer chips to our newest energy technologies to our most advanced defense systems…Despite this…we are alarmingly ...

House Energy Committee Examines 21st Century Workforce Bill

By Karen Paczkowski posted 05-11-2015
On April 23 rd the House Committee on Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power held a hearing on the 21 st Century Workforce bill, a bipartisan effort to establish a comprehensive energy and manufacturing workforce program. The development of new technologies, expansion of new energy sectors, and the expected retirement of large amounts of the workforce have created a need for new workers in the energy and manufacturing sectors. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rush (D-IL), Rep. Flores (R-TX), Rep. Green (D-TX), and Rep. Hudson (R-NC), aims to establish “a comprehensive program to improve education and training for energy and manufacturing-related ...

Secret Science Act Passes Senate Committee

By Karen Paczkowski posted 05-05-2015
On April 28 th the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed The Secret Science Reform Act (S. 544) along a party line vote. Similar to H.R. 1030 , which passed the House last month, this bill prohibits the EPA from “proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a rule, regulation or any “covered action” unless all scientific and technical information” used to inform the action is publicly available to allow reproducibility by independent analyses. The bill’s supporters contend that the EPA conducts research in a secretive fashion, and that the public cannot properly assess the basis for EPA actions. However, science organizations, ...

Critical Minerals Bill Introduced by Senator Murkowski

By Karen Paczkowski posted 04-09-2015
On March 26th Senator Murkowski (R-AK), the Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, introduced S. 883, the American Mineral Security Act of 2015 “to prevent future mineral supply shocks and boost the competitiveness of our energy, defense, electronics, medical, and manufacturing industries.” Murkowski explained, “Minerals are critical to every aspect of our daily lives. We rely on them for everything we do and everything we make – from our smallest computer chips to our newest energy technologies to our most advanced defense systems…Despite this…we are alarmingly dependent on foreign sources for dozens of minerals. Instead of ignoring ...

House Science Committee Approves The Weather Research and Forecast Innovation Act

By Karen Paczkowski posted 03-30-2015
On March 25th The Weather Research and Forecast Innovation Act of 2015 (H.R. 1561) was approved by voice vote in the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. This bipartisan bill sets program goals for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that “prioritize weather research, across all weather programs, to improve weather data, forecasts, and warnings for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy”. Rep. Lucas (R-OK), Vice-Chairman of the Committee and sponsor of the bill, explained in his opening statement that this bill will focus NOAA’s “research and computing resources on improved weather ...

House Passes Secret Science Act

By Karen Paczkowski posted 03-30-2015
On March 18th, The Secret Science Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 1030) passed the House 241-175, along an almost party line. The bill prohibits the EPA from “proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a rule, regulation or any “covered action” unless all scientific and technical information” used to inform the action is publicly available to allow reproducibility by independent analyses. The bill’s supporters, including Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, who introduced the bill and the 28 other cosponsors, contend that the EPA conducts research in a secretive fashion, and that the public cannot properly assess ...